Dak Prescott, the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys for the last eight seasons and counting, filed a lawsuit on Monday alleging a woman is attempting to extort $100 million from him through a threat of false sexual-assault accusation.
On Tuesday, the woman's attorney said she is looking to take the accusation against Prescott to criminal court.
"There's many different things that we plan to sue Dak for related to this matter," Yoel Zehaie said on "GBag Nation" on 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday. "And we have a lot to work with on both the civil aspect and the criminal aspect."
Zehaie did not get into specifics about other lawsuits, but categorized them as "imminent."
Imminent ending up being Wednesday night.
"Dallas Police Department received a report of a sexual assault the complainant said occurred on Feb. 2, 2017, in the 8500 block of Stemmons Freeway," a Dallas police spokesperson told the Dallas Morning News Wednesday night. "This is an ongoing investigation."
According to the report, the alleged incident took place in the parking lot at XTC Cabaret, a Dallas strip club. Police were given the report on Tuesday. The Prosper Police Department are simultaneously investigating Prescott's claims that he is the victim of extortion, per the Dallas Morning News. The Cowboys quarterback resides in Prosper, Texas.
Prescott's suit that he filed Monday in Collin County against Victoria Shores and her legal team of Yoel and Bethel Zehaie alleges she is looking to extort him out of $100 million to settle a claim surrounding a 2017 sexual assault allegation.
According to the letter, obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Shores is "willing to forego pursuing criminal charges, along with disclosing this information to the public, in exchange for compensating her for the mental anguish she has suffered."
Prescott's attorney Levi McCarthern labeled the allegations "an extortion plot" in a statement. An attorney representing Prescott "explained to Prosper Police Department officials that his client was possibly the victim of theft by coercion" per the Dallas Morning News. Officials told the paper that "the matter being in the preliminary stages and considered and active investigation."
"Mr. Prescott -- a new father to a baby girl -- has great empathy for survivors of sexual assault," McCarthern said in a statement to the Dallas Morning News on Monday. "He fervently believes that all perpetrators of such crimes should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. To be clear, Mr. Prescott has never engaged in any nonconsensual, sexual conduct with anyone. Lies hurt. Especially, malicious lies. We will not allow the Defendant and her legal team to profit from this attempt to extort millions from Mr. Prescott."
Zehaie described Prescott's lawsuit as a "classic" play to question the accuser's credibility. Shores' attorney said the correspondence they sent to the Cowboys quarterback was a demand letter, which is standard procedure in the civil case process.
"There's nothing extortionist about it," Zehaie said. "But we're just very disappointed that he would try to flip the script and make himself the victim."
Zehaie said on The Fan the timing for sexual assault victims time to speak out isn't linear and that Prescott's status made it even tougher for Shores to go public with her story.
"We're talking about Dak Prescott," Zehaie said. "We're talking about the quarterback of America's Team. So now you add even more layers into the fear element of the victim, you know, 'Are they going to believe me?'"
Zehaie said Shores connected with the attorneys a few months ago, and that they reached out to Prescott after figuring out the best person to contact. Per the Star-Telegram, the NFL told the paper they are aware of Prescott's legal situation, and they do not have a comment.
